Resources, lessons plans and support for Muslim Homeschooling families.

Menu

Day: May 2, 2018

Still wearing the same pjs/shalwar kameez/sheedh or baati you woke up with at 5pm?Forgetting to brush your teeth?Eating the whole family size bar of chocolate, instead of a couple of squares?

I feel you, I’ve done the same.

You see as mothers, and homeschool moms, in particular, I feel, as our responsibilities increase and the demands of daily life seem like an ever-growing mountain, we tend to put our self-care on the back burner.

Ahh yes, the infamous old ‘Self-care’ that we’ve all heard about before. It’s the term we google late at night when we’ve slept with our coffee-stained PJs, wondering whatever happened to the old me.

But self-care for me is simple.

It’s anything you do for yourself that feeds your mind, body and soul.

And a word of warning here..it doesn’t have to be so elaborate! One mistake I feel we make when we do have those late night panic attacks, is to associate self-care with something that takes up hours of time which we don’t have, hence we swiftly click off Google and go back to binging on our chocolate bar.

But self-care doesn’t have to mean we need to go on a mountainous hike, all alone, with a coffee every morning before the kids wake up. Or that you must commit to a gym workout every day while the hubby keeps the kids. While it’s fantastic if you can do this (!), it’s not realistic for everyone.

On the other hand, don’t make the mistake of thinking that those pockets of time you do have for yourself though, are better spent on doing something else either. When we make self-care an extra thing to squeeze in ‘if we have time’, as opposed to a ‘priority’, we fall into a vicious circle of feeling like we’re living in the same day. Lack of nourishing ourselves, and giving to others constantly without replenishing, leads to a bad case of getting burnt out.

So make a promise to yourself today and…

Don’t skip that shower to get an early start on breakfast.Pray on time, the hoover can wait.Brush your teeth first, the kids seemed to be immune to each others ‘morning breath’ anyway.Realise when one cup of coffee becomes one too many, and replace with water instead.While the kids are playing, read that book which inspires you.Don’t skip making the juice because of the mess. It doesn’t bother you when you know allowing the kids to make pizza will make them happy, so it shouldn’t bother you when you know how good it will make you feel after.Get the workout in – come rain or shine!Schedule a class for yourself, either in person or online. Do what works for you.Go for a long walk, and take the kids with you if you have to!